Trolley-pole retriever.



Patented Aug. 29, I899. D. E. LESSER.

TROLLEY POLE RETRIEVER.

(Application filed June 15, 1898.

{No Model.)

IIIIIIIIIflI/IIIJ.

IIIIIIIII/I/I 'l/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Wih esscs UNITED STATES"PATENT rrrcE.

DANIEL E. LESSER, OF WARREN, PENN SYLVANI A, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TOPHILLIP G. WHEELER, OF SAME PLACE.

I'TROLLEY-POLE RETRIEVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 631,854, dated August29, 1899.

Application filed June 15, 1898. Serial No. 683,489. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: ment of an overhead electric conductor; 3,

Be it known that I, DANIEL E. LESSER, a the trolley-pole, which ismounted in an orcitizen of the United States, residing at l/VardinaryWay on the car and is combined with ren, in the county of Warren andState of springs which tend to normally force said pole 5 Pennsylvania,have invented a new and usein an upward direction, and 4 is thetrolleyful Trolley-Pole Retriever for Electric-Railwheel, which ismounted in the pole 3 to have way Cars, of which the following is aspecifiunderrunning contact with the elevated concation. ductor. Allthese parts are ordinary in the My invention relates to means forretrievart, and with the pole I have combined a re- 1o ing thetrolley-pole of electric-railway cars trieving device which tends tocounteract the which commonly employa trolley having unsudden upwardmovement of the pole under derrunning contact with an overhead electheinfluence of the springs when the trolley tric conductor and normallypressed upward slips oif the conductor due to the obstruction by aspring which when the trolley slips off offered by the switches,turnouts, crossings, 15 the conductor by crossing switches or splices orsplices in the conductor.

in the wire throws the pole to a position where In the practical serviceof ordinary electricthe trolley or the pole or the cross-wires whichrailway cars it is found that the cross-wires support the conductor areliable to be broken, which support the feed-conductor are liableparticularlywhen the car is running at a comto be broken by the pole ortrolley striking 7o 20 paratively high speed. against the cross-wireswhen the trolley slips The object that I have in view is to provide offthe conductor, especially when the car is a simple and inexpensiveconstruction em traveling at a comparatively high speed, and bracing afew parts which shall present a neat frequently the trolley-wheel or thepole beappearance on the car, secure precision and come broken, as wellas the cross supporting- 2 5 certainty of operation, and amplifytheextent wires. The aim of my invention is to proof vertical play of thepole cord or cable to vide a simple and inexpensive device for rerenderthe trolley adaptable to overhead contrieving the pole and trolley inthe event of ductors which may be atvariable distances disengagement ofthe trolley from the confrom the track or the car adapted thereto. Iductor, and this retrieving mechanism emo WVith these ends in View myinvention conbodies a drop-weight which is normally held sists in thepeculiar construction andarrangeinactive by a trip-pawl that isautomatically ment of parts, which will be hereinafter fully disengagedfrom the drop-weight on the updescribed and claimed. ward movement ofthe trolley-pole, thereby To enable others to understand theinvenreleasing the drop-weight and permitting it 3 5 tion, Ihaveillustrated the same in the accomto counteract the upward pressure ofthe panying drawings,forming apart of this specisprings acting againstthe trolley-pole. fication, and in which- My improved retriever isillustrated more Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of anparticularly by Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, electric-railway carequipped with an underattention to which is now invited. This re- 4orunning-trolley for contact with an overhead triever consists in part ofa Vertical hollow conductor and showing my retrieving deviceguide-standard 6,which is externally threaded in operative relation tothe car and pole. Fig. at its lower end for the purpose of screwing 2 isan elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the it into a threaded socket ofa foot-block 7. retrieving device. Fig. 3 is a vertical sec- Thisfoot-block maybe fastened on a car not 5 5 tional view of the deviceshown by Fig. 2. having a bumper by bolts 8, adapted to pass Fig. 4 is atransverse section on the plane inthrough a flange of the foot-block andinto a dicated by the dotted line 4 4 of Fig. 3. part of the car; butIdo not desire to restrict Like numerals of reference denote like andmyself to fastening the guide-standard to the corresponding parts ineach of the several foot-block, because it may be attached to the I00 50figures of the drawings. car-bumper, or it may be applied against one 1designates a portion of a car; 2, the fragside or end of the car-body,for which lastof said dog is weighted, as at 21, to throw its namedpurpose the hollow standard may be formed with a longitudinal flattenedside 9. (See Fig. 4.) This construction of the standard provides for thefirm and secure application thereof to the end of a car substantiallybelow the roof or deck thereof, and the standard may be bolted firmly tothe car to occupy the position shown by Fig. 1. The upper open end ofthe hollow standard is externally threaded forthe reception of a flangedinter,- nally-threaded cap 10, which is screwed to the upper end of thestandard for the purpose of excluding rain and dust from entering thestandard and interfering with the free sliding movement of thedrop-weight therein. This cap is detachable readily from the hollowstandard 'for access to the drop-weight.

The drop-weight 11 is elongated and of sufficient heaviness orponderosity to counteract the springs that normally elevate thetrolleypole for the trolley-wheel to have contactwith the conductor, andthis elongated drop weight is provided with a laterally-extending arm12, to which is connected a cable or cord 13, providedfor the adjustmentand control of the trolley-pole.

The arm 12 is secured rigidly to the dropweight, and it passes through alongitudinal slot 14, which is formed in one side of the hollowguide-spindle, said slot being of sufficient length to insure thenecessary vertical play of the drop-weight. The arm 12 is thus arrangedto protrude and be exposed outside of the standard, thus enabling theoperating cable or cord to be readily attached thereto, and this armserves as a guide to direct the drop-weight in its vertical travel andpresent the notch 15 of the drop-weight in proper position forengagement by the holding-dog. The notch 15 is formed in the side of thedropweight opposite to the slot 14 in the guidestandard,and this notchhas an inclined face which terminates in an abrupt shoulder 16, thatlies at right angles to the longitudinal axis of said weight 11.

The dog 18 is arranged exteriorly on the guide-standard,and it issupported bya clamp or band 19. This band is fitted around theguide-standard at or above the upper terminal of the slot 14 therein,and this band or clamp has its ends extended to form short arms, betweenwhich the holding-dogis adjusted and that receive the pivotal bolt20,which supports the dog in the clamp, or band. The dogis pivotallymounted at a point intermediate of its length in the band or clamp,andthe lower end nose 22 away from the notched face of the drop-weight whenthe dog is released therefrom. The nose 22 of the dog is adapted to passthrough a short slot 17, which is formed in the standard 6 diametricallyopposite to the longitudinal slot 14. therein, and when the drop-Weightis elevated to bring the notch 15 opposite to or coincident with theslot 17 of the standard the weighted end of the dog may be drawnoutwardly by hand to force the nose 22 through the slot 17 andinto thenotch 15 for said nose to engage with the shoulder 16, therebyoperatively connecting the counterbalanced dog with the drop-weight tosustain the latter in its raised position.

The operating cable or cord13 may be fastened securely to the protrudingend of the arm 12 and the drop-weight; but to enable the retrievingdevice to afiord greater amplitude in the vertical adjustment of thetrolley-pole, and thus adapt the latter to support the trolley wheel inoperative relation to overhead cond uctors which may lie at variabledistances from the track, I prefer to employ the guide-sheave 23 inconnection with a cord or cable which passes under the guidesheave andis extended upwardly to the cap 10 or the upper end of the hollowstandard. This guide-sheave 23 is mounted in a suitable Way on theprotruding end of the drop-weight arm 12, and the cord or cable 13 isextended beneath the guide-sheave and is fastened, as at 24, tovthe cap10 on the upper part of the standard 6. The employment of thisguidesheave enables a longer cable or cord 13 to be used than when saidcable or cord is attached directly to the arm 12.

In the practical service of my improvement in connection with anelectric-railway car the hollow standard 6 is secured in a verticalposition either to the end or to one side of the car, and the cable 13is attached to the trolley-pole and suitably connected either to thedrop-weight arm 12 or fitted beneath the guide-sheave 13 on the saidarm. To adjust the retriever for service, the cord is manipulated byhand to elevate the drop-weight until the notch 15 thereof is coincidentwith the short slot 17 of the standard, and the holding-dog is thenadjusted by hand for its nose to engage the shoulder 16. There is apermanent allowance for abundant slack in the cable 13 between itsattachment to its arm 12 in the trolley-pole for the latter to have alimited vertical play without aifecting the drop-weight. In the event ofthe trolley-wheel slipping off the overhead conductor the springs tendto quickly elevate the pole and trolley to a vertical position; but thissudden upward movement of the trolley-pole strains the cable or cord 13in an upward direction, thus raising the drop-weight sufficiently forthe nose of the holding-dog to disengage with the shoulder 16, whereuponthe weighted end of the dog retracts the nose thereof from the slot 17of the hollow standard. The drop-weight is now free to descend in thehollow standard, and it is of sufficient weight to counteract theimpelling force of the springs which control the trolley-pole,therebypositively depressing the trolley-pole and the trolley-Wheel and holdingthe parts out of the path of the cross-wires V be limited to theprecise, form of all the parts from thence attached to a trolley-pole toprovide a permanent allowance of slack, a supporting-band clamped to thestandard, and a balanced detent pivoted in said band for its nose toplay in the short standard-slot and engage with the shouldered weight,substantially as described. 7

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DANIELE. LESSER.

Witnesses:

JNo. A. HAWKE, O. H. MEACHAM.

